Drapery hook



Feb. 20, 1962 s. PERLMUTTER DRAPERY HOOK Filed Jan. 23, 1959 7 INVENTOR. 115 By W 3,021,552 DRAPERY HGOK Samuel Perlmutter, Newton, Mass. Empire Curtain Mtg. (30., 1h Thacher St., Boston, Mass.) Filed Jan. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 788,669 6 Claims. (Cl. 16-814) The present invention relates in general to drapery hooks and more particularly concerns a novel drapery hook adapted to remain vertically oriented at all times, even when supporting relatively heavy drapes. This ap plication represents an extension of the principles disclosed in the copending application of this applicant, entitled Drapery Hook, Serial Number 713,450, filed February 5, 1958.

The present invention is adapted for use in connection with traverse rods having slides formed with an opening for accommodating the drapery hook with a lip extending downward from the opening. The main portion of the drapery hook includes first and second vertical members resiliently urged together and defining an opening oriented upward for accommodating the folds of the drapery. The hook portion of the drapery extends away from the two vertical members and opens downward. The end of the hook portion is passed through the opening in the slide so that the bight of the hook rests upon the lip of the slide. The slide is slidably supported by the traverse rod.

A disadvantage of typical prior art drapery hooks is that the downward force exerted by the weight of the draperies supported between the first and second members exerts a torque about an axis passing through the slide opening and generally parallel to the traverse rod so that the preferably vertical first and second members tip forward. This causes an undesirable crease or fold to develop in the draperies.

Accordingly, the present invention contemplates and has as a primary object the provision of a drapery hook having a pair of normally vertical members which will not tip over, even when supporting relatively heavy draperies in association with a slide riding within the tracks of a traverse rod.

It is another object of the invention to achieve the foregoing object with a structure that is low in cost and easy to fabricate.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a drapery hook in accordance with the preceding object which may be formed by bending a single length of stiff wire into the desired shape.

till another object of the invention is to provide a drapery hook which remains essentially vertically oriented under load and may be installed quickly and easily.

According to the invention, the downward opening hook portion of the drapery hook is formed with a crimp at the top of the bight adapted to rest upon and snugly engage the lip of the slide.

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the novel drapery hook shown mounted on a slide and traverse rod with the position of the drapery represented by the dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the novel drapery hook shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the invention which may be formed by bending a single length of stifi Wire into the desired shape.

With reference now to the drawing, and more particularly FIG. 1 thereof, the drapery hook 11 is shown suspended from a slide 12 which in turn is slidably supported by a traverse rod 13. The hook 111 includes a first straight essentially rigid member 14 and a second nearly parallel essentially rigid member 15 extending upward from the bottom 16 of member 14. Members 15 and 14 are connected together at 16 by Welding, soldering, riveting or other suitable means so that members 14 and 15 are resiliently urged together and define an opening oriented upward which accommodates a fold of drapery 17, the members 14 and 15 snugly engaging the drapery at 18.

A downward opening hook portion 21 extends from the upper end of member 15 and is pointed outward from member 14. The top of the bight of the hook portion 21 is crimped to define a U-shaped section 22 which passes through the opening 23 inslide 12 and snugly engages the lip 24, thereby maintaining the members 14 and 15 essentially vertical by preventing the hook 11 from rotatingabout an axis which passes through opening 23 and is generally parallel to the traverse rod 13.

Referring to FIG. 2, thereis shown a front view of the book 11 to better illustrate a form of constructing the member 14 to provide a drapery hook according to the invention capable of supporting exceptionally heavy draperies. The member 14 is formed of a single length of stiff wire bent into the illustrated shape. This shape includes the loops 25 and 26 which present a relatively large area for distributing the load of the drapes and a U-shaped portion having two relatively long generally vertical arms 27 and 28 and a bight 29. The rigidmember 15 is seen to be located within a plane which includes the axis of symmetry of member 14 and the plane of the hook portion 21.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown another embodiment of the invention in which thenovel drapery hook is formed by bending a single piece of stiff wire. It includes a normally vertical first essentially rigid portion 31 and a second nearly parallel rigid portion 32 with an interconnecting U-shaped portion 33. The members 31 and 32 are resiliently urged together so that they will snugly engage a drapery told at 34. A downwardly opening hook portion 35 extends from the top of member 32 pointed outward from the first member 31.

The hook portion 35 'is crimped at the top of the bight to form an inverted U-shaped section 36 with the distance between the arms 37 and 38 of the latter section being approximately equal to the thickness of the lip 24 at the bottom of slide 12 (FIG. 1). Vertical members 31 and 32 lie in the plane of the hook portion 35.

The provision of the inverted U-shaped portions 22 and 315 in the different exemplary embodiments of the invention provides a means for preventing the hook from tipping forward, even when heavily loaded by drapes, be cause the arms of the latter section snugly engage the lip of the slide 12 and receive therefrom a torque of equal magnitude and opposite sense to that caused by the weight of the draperies supported between the two front vertically oriented members. This advantageous mode of operation may be obtained with an inexpensive structure relatively easy to fabricate. Moreover, the thin cross section of the outer arm of the hook portion facilitates inserting the hook into the slide 12 through opening 23 even when the drapes are already attached to the hooks.

It is evident that those skilled in the art may now make numerous modifications of and departures from the specific embodiments described herein. Consequently, the invention is to be construed as limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A drapery hook for association with a traverse rod supporting an interconnecting member formed with an opening above a downwardly extending lip comprising, a hook-shaped portion formed with an intermediate integral smaller crimped portion having substantially parallel legs interconnected by a bight section, said portion adapted to slide through said opening and rest with said legs snugly engaging said lip to prevent rotation of said drapery hook about an axis parallel to said traverse rod, and a normally vertical drapery supporting member generally parallel to and resiliently urged toward the shank of said hook-shaped portion. i i i 2. In a drapery hook for association with a traverse rod supporting an interconnecting member formed with an opening above a downwardly extending lip, the improvement which resides in a crimped portion in the hooklike section of said hook, said portion having substantially parallel'legs interconnected by a bight section with said legs formed by bends in said section, said portion adapted to slide through said opening and rest upon and snugly engage said lip.

3. A drapery hook for use with a traverse rod slidably supporting a slide formed with an opening above a downwardly extending lip which accommodates the passage therethrough of a rod-like member, said drapery hook comprising, a hook portion opening normally downward having a rod-like arm adapted to pass through said opening, a U-shaped portion'at the top of the bight of said hook and also opening downward adapted to rest upon said slide lip, said U-shaped portion having substantially parallel legs adapted tosnugly engage said slide lip to prevent rotation of said hook about an axis passing through said opening and generally parallel to said traverse rod when said drapery hook is supported by said slide.

4. A drapery hook adapted to be supported by the lip of a slide comprising, first and second essentially rigid nearly parallel portions, resilient means urging said first and second portions together, a hook section rigidly secured to one end of said second portion extending away from said first portion with the plane of said hook also including the longitudinal axes of symmetry of said first and second portions, said first and second portions and said resilient means defining an opening oriented normally upward adapted to snugly support the top portion of a drapery, said hook section opening normally downward and formed with a rigid U-shaped section having opposite legs substantially parallel with one another at the top of the bight of said hook section, said U-shaped section also opening normally downward, the distance between the legs of said U-shaped section being approximately equal to the thickness of said lip. i

5. A drapery hook in accordance with claim 4 wherein said drapery hook is a unitary structure formed of a length of still wire.

6. In a drapery hook having a first straight essentially rigid portion, a second straight essentially rigid portion adjacent to and shorter than said first portion and extending toward one end of said first portion, a U-shaped section connecting the other end of said first portion to one end of said second portion and resiliently urging said first and second portions together, a generally hook-shaped portion extending outwardly from said first portion from the other end of said second portion and openingin a direction generally toward said first portion other end, the longitudinal axis of symmetry of said first and second portions being essentially in the plane of said hook-shaped portion, the space between said first and second portions adapted to snugly accommodate the upper portion of a drapery, the improvement which resides in said hook-shaped portion being formed with a U-shaped section intermediate the ends thereof opening in generally the same direction as said hook-shaped portion, the open end of said U-shaped section being clearly defined at the junction of said legs and said hook shaped portion with said legs extending angularly and in the same general direction from said hook shaped portion thereby enabling said U-shaped section opening to snugly accommodate the lip of an interconnecting member supported upon a traverse rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,945,585 Wintrob Feb. 6, 1934 2,115,593 Strube Apr. 26, 1938 2,524,477 Robertson et al. "Oct. 3, 1950 2,533,780 Eutzler -4 Dec. 12, 1950 2,553,272 Perlmutter May 15, '195 l 2,840,159 King June 24, 1958 

